I’m not much of a gambler. In fact in the three times I’ve been to Vegas I think I’ve only gambled once, more or less breaking even on a ten dollar bill in a slot machine. I don’t mind playing the games – Cindy and I made a few bets with the money of some flirtatious men one year, and I’ve played card games like poker with my family my whole life. But when it comes to betting money over 50 cents I cringe a bit, reminding myself that the house always wins, why play a game that doesn’t want someone to win?
But this week while visiting my grandmother and extended family in Minnesota I was pressured to join in on the fun, sitting down to put one dollar in a casino slot machine as we left a birthday party. As soon as I pushed the button lights and sounds went off immediately, and for the next 5 minutes we all watched as my total winnings went from one dollar to $66.50. As soon as it stopped I asked my aunt where the button to cash out was, feeling sufficiently ridiculous as the people around us realized I definitely hadn’t been playing long.
The thing is, this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. And as I sat there watching the total go up I wasn’t really surprised. Setting the aside the obviously lucky things that I was born into, like a great family in a great neighborhood with great health, and ignoring the bigger real life things that I haven’t managed to figure out yet (like finding the perfect job and gaining future clarity), it is getting harder and harder to deny that in general I am more lucky than the average person.
I’ve caught gift certificates thrown into crowds of hundreds, narrowly made trains and planes, and won day of show theatre tickets to show sold out for weeks. I’ve been in the last group allowed to raft the Grand Canyon during the 2013 government shutdown and won permits to raft others, spent the day exploring Oxford with Reel Big Fish and seen the queen of Denmark just because I was in the right place at the right time. I’ve even scored winning baskets in the final seconds and run into people that I needed to see right then more than anything.
What is even more ridiculous is that my family is lucky too. There isn’t two weeks that go by that my mother, father, or brother doesn’t win something. Whether is a raffle prize, a nickel poker game or a t-shirt tossed into a crowd, we disproportionally win things. And it’s gotten to the point where they’ll purposely not enter contests for fear of winning them and taking the prize away from friends.
But maybe it is because we jump on these opportunities, not in spite of them, that we are so lucky. I wouldn’t have been able to win the $66 dollars if I never put the dollar in, never been able to catch the flight if I hadn’t decided I might as well run. So many of my favorite lucky moments in my life are because I reached for them, decided the risk was worth the chance of reward. Maybe luck comes from opportunity.
Gambling still isn’t really for me, but when it comes to most everything else, you can bet you’ll find me in the thick of it, because do you really mind a little losing if there is a chance you’ll win?
Haha, honestly I also feel a bit lucky! Although I think my luck is mostly contained to raffles… but I am pretty good at winning raffle prizes, especially for things I don’t want or need!
Haha, I don’t think I am very lucky at winning that kind of stuff, but it’s fun that you are! I don’t think you should NOT try to win just to give others the chance–use your luck as much as you can! Definitely agree that opportunities are worth running towards. You have to play in order to win.